Pleasure Before Business
by Misura
Summary: Joey convinces Honda to do him a favor. [OtogiHonda, KaibaJoey]
1. Beginning

Pleasure before business

x

Warnings/notes: Otogi/Honda, Kaiba/Joey, slightly silly/ooc, might contain incorrect monetary details, two/three-shot.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

written at 16th march 2005, by Misura, in reply to a meme-challenge made in my livejournal by Bardicsidhe which offered the pairing Otogi/Honda and the line: "This isn't what I ordered!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Come on, man, you have to help me out here!" Joey protested, as Honda just about choked on his drink upon hearing what it was that Joey had wanted to talk to him about.

He should have known it'd be something like this, really, Honda mused sourly. Especially when Joey offered to buy him lunch. Joey might be dating a billionaire nowadays, but Honda knew his friend well enough to seriously doubt if Joey ever accepted so much as a hundred-yen note from Kaiba, quite aside from the matter that Kaiba wasn't exactly known for his generosity either.

"I don't have to do anything!" Honda glared at Joey. "What's this about anyway? I thought you and Kaiba were just getting to know each other, seeing if you could stand being together for more than fifteen minutes. And now he has you doing stuff like -this- for him, like you're his ... his -dog- or something?"

Maybe, Honda decided, comparing Joey to a 'dog' had not been that smart. If looks could kill, there'd be one very dead body sitting in his seat right now.

"You ... " Joey's face was flushed. Had there been the slightest chance that this was out of shame, Honda might have felt a little better at that. "You think -Kaiba- put me up to this? Like I'd ever do a single thing for that bastard! Do you know what he said to me last night!"

O-kay. Time to change the subject, because Honda could definitely do without the knowledge of Kaiba's private life, whether it involved his ex-best friend or not.

"So ... what's in it for you, then?" Honda asked. "It seems to me that the only people who'd profit from this --if- I was going to do it, which I'm not- would be Kaiba. And maybe Otogi." he added, after a moment's thought.

"-You-'d get something you want, too," Joey remarked. "And -I- wouldn't have to put up with Kaiba being all bitchy and stressed out for a while. -That-'s what in it for me."

Honda considered this for a while.

"I don't want ... -that-. Definitely not when it's only part of some stupid plan of yours to get some action. If you really were my friend, you wouldn't even -think- about asking me to do this." Honda shook his head.

"Rubbish. Two times rubbish." Joey snorted. "You should simply think of it as a question of timing. We both know you're going to get snuggly with Otogi some time, so why not now? As your -friend-, I'm only trying to give you a little push in the right direction."

"Sure. And they spotted flying pigs today at the observation-deck of the Tokyo Tower." Honda finished his drink and started on the rest of his food.

"Really? I hadn't heard that yet. Must have been some sort of holographic projection," Joey replied, sounding thoughtful. "Though I sure don't know any Duel Monsters that look like flying pigs."

Honda stared at him. Joey was grinning. After a few seconds, Honda returned his attention to his fries.

"You're my best friend, Honda," Joey continued, softly and more seriously. "And you're the only one who can help me with this. I need you."

Honda studiously refrained from lifting his gaze, to indicate that he was Not Impressed.

"And I bought you lunch." Joey kicked him under the table, just hard enough to cause Honda to lose his grip on the handful of fries he'd been about to dip into one of the little cups of sauce that had come with their menus. "That's worth something, too, right?"

'Seven-hundred yen', Honda'd have liked to answer, while throwing the money into Joey's face. Unfortunately, at the moment, he was completely, depressively broke. 'Seven-hundred yen. That hardly compares to risking losing a good friend, does it?'

Instead, he allowed his shoulders to slump, as a last, silent protest.

"Oh, all right."

xxxxx

As soon as he entered the game-shop -or rather 'the other game-shop', as Anzu had referred to it once, half-jokingly, only to have the title somehow picked up by the rest of them- Honda knew that he hadn't come at a good moment.

For starters, he wasn't greeted by Otogi's voice, cheerfully calling out to him in welcome. He did hear Otogi's voice, only it sounded far from cheerful, and its words weren't directed at him, but rather at some unfortunate person Otogi appeared to be speaking to over the phone.

"I don't -care- what your database says, Mister ... Machigaemasu, wasn't it? This isn't what I ordered, and I can prove that, too, so unless you want to ... hello? Hello?" Otogi groaned and put down his cell-phone, finally noticing Honda.

"Did I come at a bad time?" Honda inquired, half-hoping that Otogi would say 'yes'.

"No, no, things are just a bit hectic right now, that's all." Otogi waved his concerns away, not quite managing a smile. "See that box over there?" Otogi gestured at a big, brown box that stood on the center of the counter. "It was -supposed- to contain a load of assorted dice -the usual mix, with some d8s, some d10s, a couple of d4s and d100s, and some other stuff- but instead, they're all d6es. Worse, they're all -plain- d6es. There's -no- way I'm ever going to be able to sell those, only when I called the company who sent them to me, they refused to admit someone'd made some stupid mistake."

Otogi's cell-phone started to ring.

"Grab a drink from the fridge in the office, if you want. This shouldn't take too long." Otogi picked up his cell-phone, grabbing a set of papers with his other hand. "Ah, Mister Kengen, how good of you to give me a personal call. Yes, I agree that this is all a most unpleasant business, that should be resolved as quickly as possible. I'm sure that between the two of us, we'll be able to find a solution, satisfactory to both of us."

More because he had little desire to listen to Otogi sucking up to some big cheese in the dice-industry -if there was such a thing; until he'd seen the special dice-corner in Otogi's shop, Honda'd been sure that dice were a thing of the twentieth century, only found in old-fasioned board-games- than because he was really thirsty, Honda made his way to 'the office'.

In present days, Otogi didn't really use the room for any official purpose anymore; it had merely become a room for himself and his employers to take their breaks in. All the administrative stuff was handled by Otogi personally, on his laptop, and most of the paperwork was done at Otogi's apartment.

Joey claimed that Otogi had gone paranoid, but Otogi himself maintained that he'd learned a few lessons from Kaiba and his trouble with keeping the ownership of Kaiba Corp., as well as its secrets. (Joey had remarked that Otogi's corporation was 'small fry' compared to a multi-national like Kaiba Corp. The conversation had gone downhill rather quickly from there.)

Somewhat to Honda's surprise, the negotiations seemed to be done by the time he returned to the central part of the shop. Otogi stood leaning against the counter, a weary expression on his face.

"Here, I brought this one for you," Honda said, handing a can of green ice-tea ('with extra herbs and ginseng', the label announced proudly) to Otogi, who nodded his thanks.

"I'm afraid I'm not really going to be much in the way of pleasant company today." Otogi sighed. "That shark Kengen's going to 'check the available data', which is just a polite way to say he's not going to do a thing, unless I can find a way to force him. But he knows as well as I do that there's no way I'm going to take this to court, considering what that'd cost me. And you probably didn't come here to listen to my complaints about running a company, so do tell me why you did come. I could use a bit of a distraction."

"Well," Honda started, wondering if this fitted right in with his involuntary 'mission' or not, "if you've got someone to watch the shop, we could take my bike to go somewhere."

"Urimasu's supposed to be here in five minutes, so the shop's not a problem," Otogi assured him. "Besides, it's not like there are many customers at this time; it's a little too early in the afternoon for school-kids, and most people our age aren't really into games anymore."

Honda frowned, wanting to ask Otogi what he meant by that, if Otogi himself also wasn't 'really into games anymore', but for the moment, he decided it was better to let the subject rest.

"Oh. That's cool then," he observed.

"Yeah." Otogi grinned, though Honda had no idea about the reason for his amusement.

x- to be concluded/continued in the second part -x


	2. Middle

Pleasure before business

xx

Warnings/notes: Otogi/Honda, Kaiba/Joey, slightly silly/ooc, might contain incorrect monetary details, two/three-shot.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Thanks to the people who reviewed the first chapter:

To Fear of Falling: The next part has come today, obviously. –winks- And I hope to post the last chapter in exactly one week from now. Thank you very much!  
To Bluediamond: Hmm. That –is- a pretty erh challenging line to use? Though I must say, it sounds like it could inspire quite the fun story. –grins- Thank you!  
To Saelbu: Glad to hear you liked it! –smiles-  
To SilverWing147: It has been a while since I wrote something that wasn't a one-shot, hasn't it? I don't know why, really, but I hope this'll live up to your expectations.  
To cherreFREAK014: Thank you! I hope I'll be able to keep up the non-hectic-ness! –winks-  
To Lil Riter: Yup. And d1s and d3s don't exist. Honda's secret mission is erhm a secret? You'll find out eventually. –smiles-  
To kaibasbabe: Thank you! You spoke the magical word (twice, even) so … -winks-  
To Bardicsidhe: Wow, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the first chapter so much. (Though now I'm worried that this chapter won't be as good. –fidgets-) As to the hyphens, well, I used to use asterisks to denote italics, since italics didn't upload properly when I started uploading things here. However, asterisks don't show anymore. Thus, because I can't shake the habit of using asterisks, I let Word replace all asterisks by 'the next best thing' before uploading, which are hyphens. –sweatdrops- It's ah more of matter of laziness and habits than of conscious choices, I'm afraid. Maybe in a year or so, I'll have grown out of it. –blushes-  
To Kireira: Thank you! I hope you'll like this chapter as well.  
To DarkShadowFlame: The next chapter brings, of course, Kaiba/Joey and Mokuba. –winks- Because I'm weak like that. Thank you!  
To Kiawna: It's a seeecret. Kind of. But yes, it's not something bad. Thank you!  
To Sei Kou Ki: We-ell, a week's kind of fast, right? –smiles hopefully- Thank you!  
To aaargh: Sorry, no spoiling the plot. And uhm, there's going to be a third chapter, too, posted around this time next week. Thank you!  
To Shuffle Queen: You are right. And I duly did. –winks-  
To mandapandabug: Seven days isn't –that- long, is it? And you'll find out about Joey's plan sooner or later. Thank you!

written at 16th march 2005, by Misura, in reply to a meme-challenge made in my livejournal by Bardicsidhe which offered the pairing Otogi/Honda and the line: "This isn't what I ordered!"

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"Big brother is upset," were the words with which Joey was greeted by Mokuba, as he staggered into the living-room after an afternoon of hard work. For the first few minutes, Joey ignored the kid -well, 'teenager' would be a more fitting term, Joey supposed, only he kept thinking of Mokuba as Seto's little brother, and Mokuba hadn't exactly grown much either.

Once he'd gotten himself a mug of coffee -extra strong and freshly made; the one advantage of living with the Kaibas was that good coffee was always available- and a roll of cookies from the kitchen, Joey returned to the living-room, to be glared at some more by Mokuba.

"You're acting like that's all -my- fault," Joey groaned. "Your big brother gets upset by lots of people, you know. Not that he ever shows it in public."

"Well, I know you two haven't been in a fight or something," Mokuba replied, in the tone of someone who was being extremely generous, "but he's your boyfriend. So you should go make him feel better."

"He's -your- big brother," Joey defended himself. "Why don't -you- go cheer him up?"

"Because," Mokuba explained patiently, "I'm busy." He picked a cookie from Joey's roll, stuffing it into his mouth before Joey could protest. "Besides, Seto sould get used to having a boyfriend."

"Huh. Aren't things like that supposed to work both ways?" Joey inquired. Mokuba raised one eyebrow. "I mean, when -I- was upset, I sure didn't get any support from Seto."

"That was 'cause you wanted to keep your relationship a secret, remember?" Mokuba snorted and stole another cookie. "You still haven't told anyone but Yugi that you're living with us." Mokuba shook his head, indicating that he didn't think much of Joey for that. "And big brother -did- help you when you were being mopey."

Joey wondered why Seto was 'depressed' while he was merely 'mopey', but knew better than to demand Mokuba to change his terms. "Oh?"

Mokuba nodded (and made another cookie vanish). "Whenever you were looking sad, big brother picked a fight with you, to make you feel too angry with him to remember what it was that had made you so sad."

"Right." Joey managed not to say that he thought that was the biggest nonsense he'd ever heard. Mokuba was even worse than Seto when it came to people disagreeing with him. "Well, kiddo, I guess I'd better go and see my depressed boyfriend now."

Mokuba made a face at being called 'kiddo', but, as Joey'd hoped, his mouth was still full from the last cookie he'd nabbed from Joey, so Joey succeeded in escaping the living-room relatively unharmed.

xxxxx

(elsewhere)

Beaches, Honda decided, were portrayed very unrealistically in most of the movies. Nobody ever mentioned the sand, for example, or the way that sand got -everywhere-.

On the upside, Otogi didn't seem to find anything strange about Honda having taken him here, or about two good friends going for a walk down the beach to eventually watch the sunset together. The downside of Otogi's easy acceptance was, of course, that this meant that if Honda was to make his move -and he still wasn't sure if he really wanted to- he'd have to go out and -say- it.

Part of him had hoped that Otogi'd pick up on things, that Otogi'd kind of -know- by default what Honda meant by having brought him here, and that further explanations wouldn't be needed.

They'd start walking (like in the movies), and along the way, their hands would touch, as if by coincidence, and at some point, they'd find themselves holding hands. Then they'd stop walking and, with the sun coloring the sky and the sea in red and gold, they'd make a declaration of ever-lasting love to one another, kiss, and live happily ever after. (The movies never showed that last part, but Honda was sure that was simply because, well, people living happily ever after sounded rather dull to watch.)

Instead, about half an hour before sunset, Otogi grabbed Honda's shoulder and said:

"My shoes feel like there's a desert's worth of sand in them, I'm tired and hungry, and there's a load of things I still want to check up on before Monday. So can we go back now?"

Honda shrugged and replied: "Sure."

x

On their way back -to Otogi's apartment, since Urimasu had confirmed that he'd closed the shop, and that all sales had been duly registered, which meant Otogi'd be able to check them at home- Honda barely managed a conversation of a dozen words.

He told himself that it didn't matter, since Joey's request had been unreasonable to start with, but part of him pointed out that he -had- given it a shot. He'd given it his best shot to subtly let Otogi know that he wouldn't be opposed to the two of them becoming a little bit -more- than friends, and this was the result.

As he pulled up at the pretty posh apartment-building (in which Otogi could afford the cheapest type of apartment, barely, though he'd informed Honda he intended to upgrade as soon as possible), he hardly noticed the fact that Otogi was talking to him, instead of hurrying up the stairs to his home, in a mood due to Honda dragging him along to collect sand in his shoes.

"Sorry, what did you say?" he asked, glad of the helmet hiding his blush.

"I said: would you like to come up for dinner?" Otogi grimaced. "After all, it wasn't just -my- lunch that got ruined by sand. I admit that I'm not the greatest cook, so I can't blame you if you'd rather not, but ..."

Honda had tasted Otogi's cooking before. Once.

"Are you kidding?" Honda snorted incredulously.

Otogi had prepared some sort of farewell-dinner, the evening before Anzu'd left for the U.S.A. for half a year, inviting most of the people whom he'd met in Battle City, with a few logical exceptions. That evening was one of the few times Honda recalled that Joey had actually been civil to Otogi.

"You're great at cooking! No way I'm going to refuse an invitation like that! Now, where can I park my bike around here?"

x- to be concluded in the third part -x


	3. Ending

Pleasure before business

xxx

Warnings/notes: Otogi/Honda, Kaiba/Joey, slightly silly/ooc, might contain incorrect monetary details, three-shot.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Thanks to the people who reviewed the second chapter:

To Kireira: Thank you! I hope you'll also find 'my' Mokuba to be cute in this chapter. –grins-  
To SilverWing147: Yes, well, it's hard to chuck dice at people over the phone, isn't it? –winks- I'm afraid you'll only get to see the results of dinner, not dinner itself, since I skipped a good part of the evening. I hope that won't bother you too much. Thank you!  
To Icy Flame: All will be revealed in this chapter, I promise. Thank you! –smiles-  
To cherreFREAK014: Well, it will be up Sunday, yes. And Monday. And Tuesday. And so on. –winks- Thank you!  
To Lil Riter: Really? Ooh, I really want to see that episode now! –grins- Thank you!  
To mandapandabug: Thank you! There'll be some Seto/Joey in this chapter, but still more Otogi/Honda.  
To Fear of Falling: Yup. Though it kind of makes me wonder if that means –Seto- is a good cook, too. Hmm. Thank you!  
To Bluediamond: Thank you! I'm afraid I –will- present them as established couple this chapter, skipping over their getting together, but I hope it won't ruin the story for you. –smiles a little nervously-  
To ChibiSerenity: I'm glad to hear you think so. Thank you!  
To Kiawna: I'll uh post something for them alone soon? Otogi/Honda –is- the first pairing in this fic after all … Thank you!  
To DarkShadowFlame: One day, I really should write a fic in which Mokuba –isn't- this smart, all-knowing voice of reason and sanity with a limitless insight in his big brother. –coughs- Thank you! I hope you'll enjoy this last chapter as well.

written at 18th march 2005, by Misura, in reply to a meme-challenge made in my livejournal by Bardicsidhe which offered the pairing Otogi/Honda and the line: "This isn't what I ordered!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(!) Please note that this chapter starts on 'the morning after'

x

"You know, I always tell my dates that I never make out on a first date," Otogi remarked, staring at the ceiling. Honda pondered the matter for a moment or two, before he decided that even -if- he'd be insulted that Otogi wasn't looking at him, he'd lack the energy to do anything about it.

"You know, I'm not one of your dates," Honda replied, not quite managing to keep a slight snarl out of his voice. "And we did quite a bit more than 'making out'."

"True and true." Otogi turned and studied Honda's expression. "But we did go for a walk on the beach, and we had a candle-lit dinner. All things ordinary people would consider to be part of a romantic date."

"Am I expected to say now that we, and especially -you-, are in no way ordinary?" Honda inquired, not quite sure if he liked Otogi making light of what happened yesterday.

"Not if you don't think so." Otogi shrugged. "To me, you're an extraordinary person, and I care for you in a way I haven't cared about anyone for a while. If you'd rather just stay friends, well, that's fine with me, too. It's ... interesting to hang out with someone who seems to be immune to my superior skills of seduction."

"What - never mind." Honda found himself grinning in spite of himself. "I definitely want for us to remain friends."

Otogi nodded, raising himself to a sitting position. "Like I said: fine with me. We can simply forget - "

"And I think friends can sleep together as well, if they happen to both want that," Honda added.

Otogi looked at him, then grinned. "Only sleep? To tell you the truth, I've had plenty of sleep already. I think I'd rather do something else now, for a change."

Any clever reply Honda might have come up with was prevented from being voiced by Otogi sealing Honda's lips with his own.

x

"You and Joey are kind of best friends, aren't you?" Otogi began, some while later.

Honda's stomach insisted on letting it be known that it considered this an unfit time for talking, and an excellent time for breakfast, but it was pointedly ignored by its owner.

"I guess so," Honda murmured. He'd been pretty comfortable, just lying there and listening to his and Otogi's breathing, yet he supposed it'd be rather rude not to answer.

"And Joey and Kaiba are getting pretty cozy together nowadays." Otogi sounded pensive. Pensive and, in Honda's opinion, disgustingly awake.

"Could you get to the point?" Honda grumbled.

"Well, it so happens that I have an appointment with Kaiba this afternoon. A rather important appointment, that could mean a great deal for Dungeon Dice Monsters, -if- Kaiba goes along a bit with my wishes." Otogi absently toyed with a pair of dice that apparently had been lying on the nightstand. "Joey might help to put Kaiba in the proper kind of mood to be ... shall we say, a bit more generous and lenient than he usually is in matters like this. More inclined to let me have things -my- way. Now, Joey'd -never- consent to do anything to help me, no matter how politely I asked him, but maybe if -you- ... "

"You're very lucky that you're my friend," Honda sighed, grabbing a pillow.

Otogi raised one eyebrow. "Is that a 'yes'?"

Honda hit him over the head with the pillow. "No, that's an 'I'd beat you to a bloody pulp for suggesting that, if you weren't somewhat important to me'."

"Ah." Otogi reached out for another pillow. "Well, it was just an idea."

Somehow, Honda found he possessed more than enough energy for a pillow-fight at eight in the morning, on a Saturday, no less.

xxxxx

(elsewhere)

"Did you two have a good night?" Mokuba asked over breakfast, after having scoffed at Seto's comment on the amount of healthy vitamins that his chosen dish contained -which wasn't very much, if any.

"I slept quite well, thank you," Seto replied, slightly absent-mindedly, obviously contemplating to further pursue the matter of Mokuba's lack of healthy breakfast-foods.

"You weren't supposed to sleep!" Mokuba glared at Joey. "What did I tell you? You were to make big brother feel better, not let him sleep the night away!"

"Huh?" Joey said. Both Kaiba-brothers had begun to suspect that Joey was only -acting- like he was fuzzy and barely one-quarter awake during breakfast, to avoid having to answer the kind of questions Mokuba tended to ask him about his and Seto's relationship, and they'd both attempted to lure him into giving himself away -Seto, because he felt it was unfair that he bore the brunt of Mokuba's 'innocent curiosity' on his own, and Mokuba, because it annoyed him to be played for a fool. Thus far, neither of them had succeeded.

"Sleep is very important to one's health." Seto risked a lot by -that- particular remark, but he felt discussing his sleeping-patterns was preferrable to discussing the details of how he and Joey had spent the night. He knew that Mokuba mainly brought the subject up out of some weird desire to see Seto squirm, and that if he were to inform Mokuba that yes, he and Joey had had sex last night, Mokuba'd most likely freak out and go 'ewwww!', but ... Seto couldn't bring himself to do that.

And Mokuba knew so, and shamelessly exploited the fact. He'd make a great C.E.O. one day.

"Is that so? Then why are you always working so late, and getting up real early to go on working?" Mokuba demanded, viciously stabbing the one piece of fruit Seto had managed to force him to add to his plate.

"Coffee?" Joey muttered, holding out a mug.

"Go get it yourself," Seto growled.

"See? Big brother has got a morning temper! That's all your fault! Why didn't you listen to me when I said you should - " Mokuba rambled, closing his mouth as Seto raised his hand.

"Mokuba, why don't you go pour Joey a nice cup of coffee? I have to prepare myself for today's negotiations with Otogi."

"Bah." Mokuba pouted. "I'm a teenager, you know. I have the right to get some Sexual Education from my legal guardians."

All in all, it was just another morning in the Kaiba-household.

OWARI (aside from a tiny epilogue)


End file.
